Chapter 4

The Grand Parapa Palace

The large archway had statues armored from head to toe of tall monsters called ironknuckles flanking either side of it. There was a platform at the end of the wall, and it stood tall enough for a person to stand under its own roof. Was this the entrance? I shrugged and moved past the statues to stand there and as I soon as I was on it, it suddenly moved down in the dangerous temple. The movement shook my balance, but I held my calm. The brick pattern repeated constantly in front of my eyes until the elevator rested on the ground below it. I couldn't see anything that was aggressive further in. I took a step in and glanced up, suddenly breathless at the beauty of the palace. The palace was made from really fine yellow bricks, and decorated with matching pillars. The windows were set near the high ceiling, and they let in beams of white moonlight onto the ground in front of me.

I held my sword and shield close; I wasn't convinced the guardian was the only monster to fight in there. I was an expert on temples, and they usually had other challenges and monsters to oppose. The silence was quite calming, and I embraced the feelings of stepping into the unknown. Most people would fear to walk into a mystery, but I was not most people, and I was not afraid in the slightest. Nothing would dare to fight and achieve victory over the Chosen One. Nothing even had the skill to give me too much of a challenge.

A growl suddenly, as if from nowhere, broke the calm, and at the end of the wide hallway, I noticed a wosu was charging straight for me with paws clamped around a sword. The golden armor gleamed in the white light from the high windows, and its light gray snout was wrinkled into a frown. But he was without strategy and when he came close enough, I easily defended myself by striking the sword aside and stabbing the creature.

"That's all you got?!" I yelled at it as the wosu fell to the carpet. "That wasn't even swordplay! You disgust me." But that was not the only one, soon more were revealed charging all at once to me. It seemed this temple held thousands of them! But just like the first, they didn't put up a tough fight. I fought them all, and never slowed. My sword flashed and flew in every direction, and sadly for me, it didn't take a lot of skill to kill the horde.

When the floor was littered with the monsters and they stopped appearing, I moved ahead. At the end of the majestic hallway was a split to the left and right, but my only choice was to the right as the left was blocked by a locked door. I would have to come back later with a key, I concluded. As I drew my attention to the room next to me, I saw a wider room with sets of cracked blocks making a staircase up to a door. Something didn't feel right, again, it became too quiet.

I lightly placed my foot on the first step… It may have been cracked, but it seemed to hold my weight. So when I decided it was safe enough, I stepped up fully on the first stair.

But before I could go much further, the door up ahead of me opened and more wosu came out and charged angrily. I held my sword up threateningly, but a sudden painful burn on my leg caused me to drop forward and fall over a few of the stairs. I looked behind me; above the door I came in was a statue of a dragon's head and it every now and then; it spit blue flashing magic at me. I rolled to the side of the step to avoid it, but then felt a hard kick to my head that made me clamp my jaw hard and I was crushed under the weight of the tripping wosu before he rolled to the base of the staircase.

My head throbbed from the kick, but I knew I had to stand up. The wosu stood up as well and approached me. I took a step up a stair before turning around to strike with my weapon and it fell back down, but there were more coming through the door. I had to keep moving so the ra's, as the dragon heads were called, bolts wouldn't reach me. I danced about the floor dodging the missiles and swung my sword at the wosu group seemingly at the same time.

After they dropped and I had the chance, I quickly ran in the door and shut it behind me forcefully, quite glad to be away from the magic that still burned my leg. And then I noticed that this room was warmer than the other ones I've been in, and this was supported by the hot smell of boiling lava and after taking a quick glance at the room, I found the source. The floor was split in several platforms and lava filled the gaps. The only way I could see to cross them was to jump over the gaps!

I took a step closer and looked down at the red boiling lava that bubbled continuously. The view of the lava several feet down would have made someone sick and dizzy, but I was not bothered by the feeling. I was young and reckless, I didn't even think that there was a chance I could fall! The platform was quite far off, I would have to give myself quite a bit of distance to make this jump. I backed up to the door, and prepared to make a strong dash. Even having dealt with situations like this before, it hit me for just a moment of what I was about to do, and my heart began to pound, I started to sweat. And an unwanted thought came up to the surface that I would be passing over the lava that could kill me if I didn't push off hard enough. But that thought didn't stay for more than a second, like a hidden emotion, I managed to push that away. I was no stranger to such risks, it was just how I lived. Now with those sudden uncertainties gone, I was ready, and broke into my fastest run.

And as I came close to going over, I pushed off when my foot met with the edge, and threw my hands out in front on me. The edge of the rough rock surface was forcibly shoved against my chest, and for a second, I hung just over a molten doom. Luckily, the platform held sturdy, and I was able to pull myself up safely. from there, I could see there were two more platforms, but they were a lot closer than the last one. So I picked myself up from the ground and allowed no break as I ran again and jumped to the next piece of ground. I hardly stopped, for I decided that the more I kept moving, the better momentum I will have, and therefore, the safer it will be to soar over the gaps. After landing safely near the center of the last platform, I saw that there was a stone tiled bridge that led to a larger part of the room on the other side.

"Just a bit further." I said to myself as I walked on the bridge, but I hesitated when a cracking sound was followed by the swallow of lava. The tiles were falling! There was no time to delay any longer! Without looking back, I sprinted dead ahead as the sound of the falling tiles became louder and more frequent. The ground beneath my feet was merciful and I quickly left the unstable bridge and was back on solid rock. I instantly, now that I was safe again, I dropped to my knees and was trying to catch the breath that I didn't know I lost in the first place. The sound of the sunken bridge bubbled and sucked as the lava pulled it in. And an unsafe smell followed when the stone turned hot red, like it was becoming molten rock itself.

When I was ready to stand once more, I walked on the larger rock surface and took in my surroundings. Lava filled more of the gaps at the edge of the rocky ground, and an ironknuckle stood there in the center like he was waiting for me. It was dressed in the armor like the statues at the entrance had. And as he saw me, he brought out a massive blade that he wielded easily in one hand and pointed it to me threateningly.

"Finally," I said, unsheathing my own sword. "Perhaps you can give me the challenge I'm looking for."

He waited a moment before swinging a heavy strike to me, and I was pushed back by his tremendous strength despite that I had used my shield. But now it was my turn to strike, and I tried to attack the creature's tall legs, but even with the clunky armor, he managed to block with his own shield. I then quickly lifted my sword up as a feint, and when the ironknuckle reacted by raising his shield up to the right, I slashed at the legs once more. A deep yell came from underneath the helmet, and then he swung his sword from overhead in anger, but I was already to the left side of him.

The monster swung his sword once more, but this time horizontally, and I dodged by jumping back a bit, but my foot slipped and I had to grab the edge as not to drop in the lava below me. I had to pull myself up before the ironknuckle could strike! It happened so quickly; he approached and lifted his heavily armored boot. I knew he planned to push me off, and I dropped with one hand to shove my shield into the large foot. He stumbled backwards off-balanced, and that was my chance! I crawled back up and raised my sword up to fight my opponent once more.

He recovered by meeting my charge with his massively wicked blade and our weapons clashed together in a loud clang that overtook the chamber. There was no way I could push back an enemy like that! I needed to find his weakness. The sound of clanging swords still carried across the chamber as we struck, parried, and dodged.

I saw an opening when my opponent parried my sword to the side, and I didn't hesitate! My sword seeped through the ironknuckle's defenses, and then I knew he was seriously injured, for he struggled just to hold on to his weapons. The blade in his grasp shook as he tried to swing, and when I easily dodged the strike, the force of the attack sent him to the floor face down. "Well, that was more entertaining than with the wosu. But the fight could've lasted a bit longer with one of your strength, wouldn't you say?"

I took the rupees that fell out of his wallet, and just continued on my way without stopping to look at him much longer. The door ahead took me to a wide room with many directions to choose from. A crack at the end of an overhanging pillar spilled out drops of lava straight into a small pool below it, but every now and then, a blue drop would come out and land outside of the pool where it then would become a bot. Slimy and slow gel creatures that weren't hard to get rid of, but did tend to slow me down. An elevator that looked a lot like the one at the entrance stood in the center of the room. But there remained enough space to explore behind the elevator as well.

The bots wiggled over to me and looked as it they were about to jump. I pulled free my sword, and jabbed the sharp edge through the gel. The creatures' strange bodies jiggled before melting as a sudden liquid on the floor. There was no point to sheath my sword then, for the monsters seemed endless! I moved towards the elevator then, but decided to look around it first. The torches in the room failed to light the thinning passage at the far end of the wall. And I couldn't see anything that was down it. The thought came that I should investigate further, and at first, I was torn in two directions, but then I decided to see where the elevator would take me first. As I turned back to the magical floor, the only thing I saw was the vivid blue of a bot soaring for my face! The gel body slapped quite hard against my skin, leaving a lingering sting from the impact. But I held my ground and stayed on my feet as I swung down at the bots that had grouped up to attack me. "Nasty creatures!" I yelled, feeling steamed by their existence.

Once they were out of my way, I hurried to the elevator before many more could follow! Just like at the entrance, the platform sank slowly down in the passage as soon as I stepped down on it. The moving platform didn't fall for very long before it slowed safely down and rested on the room's floor.

As I walked forward, I noticed a line of torches that stretched and followed the wall to the right. Some were lit, some were not, and another line followed the opposite wall as well, but not one were lit on that side. Rocks and pottery sat by the corners of the small room, and statues stood in front of the words that were written on the wall.

"Copy the pattern to light the way."

"Copy the pattern"? What pattern? Does it mean the statues? I moved back around to the giant stone men and inspected the weapons and the faces, but they were identical. I then, turned my attention to the ceiling and floor, but the only pattern I noticed were the bricks. There had to be something here, I thought as I then looked over to the pottery and stones sitting on the floor, and I thought I saw something sparkle within one of the vases. I lifted the pot, but all the others held the same resemblance. Suddenly, now that I held it, I didn't want to put it back down. I threw it against the wall, and a sharp shattering sound split as the shards of the once beautiful masterpiece fell quite satisfyingly to the ground. That shattering of glass at my throw soothed some anger that I didn't now I had. Whatever the case, it felt good to cause such destruction. A blue rupee was the only item unharmed, and I took it before breaking the other pots.

My gaze rested on the only other thing in the room. The torches' flames didn't match. "Light the way". That's the clue. I took out my candle and saw the pattern in the right wall torches. I turned to the unlit row and held up the candle. I lit the first two, missed one, lit one more, and let the last torch as it was. Now that the row on either side matched, the words upon the wall began to glow mysteriously. Them, the brick upon where the words were carved scrapped back and revealed a secret hole where a key hid. I took it, and after making sure that this was all the room had to offer, I went back to the elevator.

I then remembered a locked door at the beginning of the palace as the platform lifted me back up to the last room. I instantly charged past the bothersome bots and was almost to the door where I fought with the ironknuckle when I stopped to realize; the tiled bridge from before that, fell into the lava, and now, I won't be able to cross that path again… I had to find a way forward on a different course.

There was still an unexplored area behind the elevator. I could only hope that it would help me reach back to the beginning. I turned back around and moved back towards the passage I had yet to go down. By now, many bots have formed together, but I didn't want to spend too much time with them, and only hacked through the monsters that stood in my way. The pathway wasn't difficult to reach though, and I followed down its turn and it then became a little darker.

As soon as I was down the passage, I smelled a damp muskiness, and the sound of pouring water quickly followed. It was just around the corner when I found that it flowed from a vent and into a small crevice that was to the side of the path. I examined the clear liquid and when I found it to be completely clean, I refilled my supply before walking forward. The tunnel stretched on forever with only the sound of the water to break the dead silence. But eventually, The darkened road came to an end.

With nowhere else to go.

I sighed, and couldn't help but to kick the wall in my frustration. Why would this path lead to nothing? There was no way out now! Not when my only way back was unreachable. I stared at the dead end and tried hopelessly to find a solution of some sort. I've been in terrible situations like this before, and it was an insult to me that I let myself fall into another one! But perhaps, there was nothing to prevent it?

It was only when I stopped to ponder that last thought when I noticed something weird about that wall in front of me. There seemed to be a perfect crease running up and down the bricks. I froze, is this what I thought this was? I quickly went for my candle to help give me a better look, and I ran my fingers across the straight line. Yes, this seemed to be a door! I set my magical candle down carefully on the ground and tried to open the hidden door. After a minute or so of a close inspection, I bent down and lifted it up. And as soon as I stepped into the room after retrieving my candle, I instantly recognized where this was. I was back in the beginning with the cracked staircase and ra head. To think this passage was here all along. I went right by it!

Not only was I now at the beginning like I hoped I'd be, but this room was just past the locked door I wanted to find again. Personally, I couldn't wait to fight the guardian! I loved a good fight and wanted to put the guardian down in his place.

Author's Note: I actually wanted to post this a while ago, but then I notice how long this chapter was. Originally, this covered the entire temple, but I didn't want to overwhelm my readers, so tell me, has the chapter sizes been ok so far? The paragraphs not to long and cramped? Let me know, because that can frustrate any fanfic! As always, thanks for reading! See you later!